Israel vows to protect OFWs amid Mideast conflict
Twenty-six Filipinos, including an infant, crossed from Israel into Egypt via Taba with assistance from Philippine officials, the embassy said. They will stay temporarily in Egypt pending flights home. A total of 100 Filipinos have so far been assisted to leave Israel.
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TAGUIG CITY — Israel’s ambassador to the Philippines said that the country’s 30,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Israel will be protected, just like its citizens, amid rising tensions in the Middle East.
Speaking at a cybersecurity forum in Taguig City last Thursday, 26 March, Ambassador Dana Kursh highlighted the role of OFWs in Israel’s caregiving sector, commending their dedication to elderly care.
She said many remain in the country not only because of their work, but also because of close bonds with the families they serve.
“In contrast to other Gulf countries that more OFWs want to repatriate, from Israel it was just a few tens, I think 22,” she said.
Kursh said Israel views the safety of OFWs as part of its wartime responsibility. Authorities provide workers with mobile alerts to warn of incoming attacks, instructions in English on reaching shelters, and siren systems to signal danger. These measures are supported by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, designed to protect both citizens and foreign residents.
On 28 February, the United States and Israel launched a coordinated operation in Iran called Operation Epic Fury, in which Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed.
On the same day, 32-year-old Filipina caregiver Mary Ann de Vera was killed in Israel while helping an elderly woman reach a bomb shelter. Her remains arrived in the Philippines on 14 March.
Kursh said authorities are doing their best to prevent further casualties.
“I do want to send an encouraging message to the families of OFWs. I know we cannot protect your loved one 100%, but we are doing it in 99%, in the same way that we are protecting our own citizens. We are grateful and thankful for the amazing selfless work that each OFW is dedicating for families in Israel," she said.
“We will do everything in our power that [her] tragic loss will be the last one.”
Addressing concerns that the war could continue, Kursh told Filipinos, “I want to assure the Filipino people that the state of Israel and the leadership of Israel want this operation to be over as soon as possible.
[To] the Filipinos who are worried because the prices of oil are getting higher, [I] want to assure them that we will do our utmost to make this operation as quick as possible to reach our goals and to be able to go towards peace.”